A building damaged in Erbil by Iranian missiles. March 13, 2022
Iraq's foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador Sunday to protest against a ballistic missile attack on the city of Erbil, state news agency INA said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for a dozen ballistic missiles that struck Erbil in the Kurdish autonomous region in the early hours of Sunday, Iranian state media reported.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi condemned the attack earlier that apparently targeted the US Consulate's new building in Erbil.
In a tweet a few hours after the attack, al-Kadhimi said, “The aggression which targeted the dear city of Erbil and spread fear amongst its inhabitants is an attack on the security of our people”.
He added that he discussed these developments with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, noting that “Our security forces will investigate and stand firm against any threats towards our people”.
Iraq’s top Shiite politician and cleric Muqtada al-Sadr also condemned the attack and urged the government to let Iran know it cannot violate Iraq’s security.
Iran claimed it targeted a secret Israeli spy center in Erbil to avenge the death of two of its IRGC officers in Syria a week ago. But Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in Syria are frequent incidents and Tehran usually remains silent about its casualties.
With reporting by Reuters